Color of the Wolf
by somethingborrowed3
Summary: Teddy and Victoire enjoy some time in the Heads Common Room. TeddyxVictoire ONESHOT


I flopped herself onto the plush chintz chairs of the Heads Common Room, trying to calm her beating heart and pumping adrenaline. Having stolen James' invisibility cloak, Teddy convinced me to join him in a midnight stroll to the kitchens and back.

It was rather uneventful, until we ran into Peeves near the transfiguration department. Although we had tried to be quiet, Teddy (having inherited his mother's clumsiness) dropped half of his treacle tarts and Every Flavor Beans, causing a loud racket as the lot of them spread across the stone floor.

Peeves immediately noticed the candy, and obviously with years of experience for recognizing such occurrences, called for Filch. We managed to sneak away, although I happily overheard Peeves mocking Filch as he slipped on the beans and treacle tarts in his haste.

Teddy decided to take me with him to the Heads Common Room instead of Gryffindor, since it was closer and Mrs. Norris was popping up and undesirable times.

So now, here I was, sharing a comfortable chintz armchair with Teddy Lupin, after having the most wonderful midnight stroll (even though it was my _only_ one) with the aforementioned boy. Every bit of my dream was coming true – but now that it was, I wasn't sure if I wanted it, or if I was ready.

I turned over to my side and saw Teddy smiling brightly at the slowly diminishing flames in the fireplace, his hair bright yellow with red highlights.

"What if Mandy catches me?" I ask him nervously, referring to the Head Girl. Technically, only the Heads were supposed to be in this common room at night.

"Nah, she's a very heavy sleeper," Teddy replied, playfully patting my arm.

"OK," I said, not altogether reassured, especially after our recent escapade. I occasionally stole glances at Mandy's door.

"Come on, relax," Teddy said, his hair now green. "I'll give you a little tour of the common room. This object we're sitting on is a _chair_."

"I _know_ that," I giggled, lightly swatting him on the shoulder.

"I bet you didn't know that Dumbledore sat on this chair while defending Harry in front of the entire Wizengamot," Teddy said, trying to impress me with his large amounts of trivial knowledge.

I was impressed. Not because of his interest in such matters (which admittedly is very cute) but because I was sitting in a chair that Dumbledore himself used. "Why was Harry being tried in front of the entire Wizengamot?"

Teddy shrugged. "I dunno. I asked Professor McGonagall and she said something about using a Patronus charm while still underage. About your age, I think."

I gaped. Harry never told me he could cast a Patronus charm in his fifth year. I've been desperately trying to cast one since I heard about it in one of Beedle's fairytales. "I wish I could cast one…I want to know what mine looks like."

"Me too," Teddy said ruefully. I also want to know what I'd be if I ever become an Animagi, but such things are never going to happen. Contrary to my dad's strong points, I'm not that great at Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Stop being modest," I replied. "Remember that time when I was 9 and you just came back from your first term in Hogwarts. We had just finished playing under the snow and went inside for some hot chocolate. I opened the drawer and this werewolf popped out. You said "Reddickulus", and I thought you were insulting me until I saw how the wolf became a little puppy. I was itching to learn that spell…when I found out it was Level 3 magic."

"That's different," Teddy said, now blushing. "I-I just said something and thought about a puppy while I did it. It was really simple…really," he finished lamely.

I stared at him with those fake glazed looks, and his color-changing hair (which was now red, like his face).

"Never mind," I said. "Let's finish that tour."

Teddy's face lit up. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. This thing over there," he pointed at the fireplace, "is a _fireplace_."

"Oh, and I suppose something interesting happened there too?" I asked, starting to become interested in Hogwarts history.

"No," Teddy said in mock seriousness, "I just thought you'd like to know."

I tried to be mad at him, but the corners of my mouth were tugging upward, and I began to half-frown and half-smile, causing him to laugh. It was rather contagious because I soon began laughing as well.

A few minutes passed, and Teddy said, "Well, I'd better take you to the Gryffindor common room. Filch has probably given up looking for us anyway."

"Ok," I said standing up, not even trying to hid my disappointment. Teddy grabbed the cloak and covered us in it. "See if you can try and slip this into James' trunk while we're sleeping. I don't want to think about what he'd do to us if he found out we took it."

I laughed. "What can he do? The scariest spell he's learnt so far is 'Wingardium Leviosa'."

Teddy shrugged. "Don't underestimate that boy. Harry raised him himself."

"True."

The rest of the trip was rather silent, since we didn't want any noise to reach Filch's or Peeves' ears. I was just reveling in being in his presence (completely ignoring my brain was trying to say), and Teddy…was just changing his nose shape.

"Dracula," I said. A sleepy woman barely opened her eyes and said…yeah, ok, come on in." The portrait swung open and Teddy and I climbed in.

"It's been a while since I was here," Teddy stated. I laughed, "you were here yesterday!"

Teddy shrugged, "yesterday was a while ago…"

I shook my head at his foolishness. "Ok then. Anyway, see you tomorrow. We're going to Hogsmeade tomorrow, right?"

"Yep," Teddy said, and turned to go.

"Wait! Do you want the cloak?"

Teddy shook his head. "I'll be fine. Just make sure you sneak it into James' trunk."

"Ok." Suddenly, a thought popped into my head. In order to cast a Patronus, you had to be happy, right?

I ran up and hugged Teddy closely, snuggling my face into his chest and just smelling him. (That sounded weird, huh?) After a while, I released him, and laughed at his red face and randomly changing hair color.

"Expecto Patronum," I whispered, looking at Teddy's (still) awestruck face. A silver wolf burst out the tip of my want, but instead of leaving a silver trail, it left a trail of colors; the same as Teddy's hair.

"Is it possible to make a colorful patronus?" I asked.

Teddy seemed to snap back to his senses. "I don't know If I had ever seen one before… I didn't know it was possible."

The wolf disappeared, and the common room dimmed again.

"On the other hand," Teddy said, regaining some of his swagger, "You were able to make a Patronus. And to make one, you had to be thinking of something happy…so you _hugged_ me."

This time, it was my turn to turn crimson red. Argh…why did he have to be so _correct_? "Yes? So the point?"

"I don't have a point," Teddy said, even though I was certain he had a point, and I think I knew what it was. Me, being competitive as I was, was not about to let him win this.

"However, I think we should change our little meeting in Hogsmeade tomorrow into a date. What say you?"

I just sat there, sputtering like an utter idiot. He smiled and said his farewells, then climbed through the portrait hole.

Fine, Teddy, you won this time.


End file.
